Gurkha Ghost

Quick Review

I’ll be honest…I haven’t smoked many Gurkha cigars and even more honestly, I don’t know why. I have my go-to’s and Gurkha hasn’t made it into my wheelhouse. With all that said, I’m excited to try this guy!
The Gurkha Ghost line was introduced just this past year at the IPCPR trade show. It has a dark beautiful, Brazilian Arapiraca wrapper and comes in four sizes: the Shadow (5x52), Angel (6x52 torpedo), Asura (6x54) and the Exorcist (6x60). I like the size names here; definitely goes along with the ‘Ghost’ trend. The one I have is the Exorcist and I’m glad about this. For a long time, the Toro size has been my favorite, although lately, I’ve enjoyed more of a smaller gauge like a Corona. To each their own, I guess!

Stogie Specs

Made By:Gurkha

Wrapper:Brazilian Arapiraca

Binder:Dominican Criollo ‘98

Filler:Dominican and Nicaraguan

Average Price:$9

Ring Gauge:60

Length:6"

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Initial Thoughts

As I said, I’m really looking forward to this cigar. I’ve read a couple reviews on this stick since it was introduced at the IPCPR last year and all of them sounded like the flavor would appeal to my taste buds. Anything that has some spice, depth as well as
some sweetness is right up my alley.

Gurkha Ghost

One thing that stood out to me about this cigar is the somewhat unusual blend of tobacco. As I mentioned earlier, the wrapper is a dark Brazilian Arapiraca, the Binder a Dominican Criollo from 1998 (obviously aged very well by now) and the filler is a combination of Dominican and Nicaraguan tobaccos. Not entirely rare, but definitely different than a lot of blends that are out there right now.

Looks

After taking out and inspecting this Gurkha Ghost, I found the wrapper to be very pretty, dark and an earthy maduro. The construction looks really good; no veins and I can barely even see the seams.

Gurkha Ghost – Band

The foot tapers out ever-so-slightly while the head tapers in just a bit. It’s so slight that it may be just the way this particular cigar was rolled, but worth the observation.

Gurkha Ghost – Foot

I didn’t notice any soft spots but it felt like the stick was packed much heavier and tighter towards the head.

This Gurkha Ghostdemonstrates (see what I did there??) a psychedelic feel with the band that almost looks like a hologram. It’s black and silver and the silver is somewhat reflective and looks like a kaleidoscope or armor from medieval times.

Function

I put my nose up to this beautiful, dark wrapper and got a strong musty smell. Reminds me of the cellar at my Grandparents house where they used to keep their homemade wine. Too bad I never got to try any of that before they got rid of it all. Dang it! It also made me think of what the rind of a cheese wheel smells like. On the foot, I got more of the same flavor along with just a little spice and sweetness.

Gurkha Ghost – 1st Third

Back to the band for a moment, it almost makes me think of something Matt Booth would design. Some cool phillagry matched with the actual ‘Ghost’ letters and swords look very Room 101-ish.

After clipping the head with my Coppola scissor clips, I’m met with a nice, medium draw and picked up more of that musty taste with a spicy after taste on my tongue. Ok, let’s light this goblin up!

Smoking

After toasting the foot just a bit, the lighting was extremely easy and immediately produced a ton of white smoke. Is this a mistake? Is this really from the Liga Privada line?

Gurkha Ghost – 1st Third

I’m met with rich chocolate and a strong spice. Really great flavor and quickly, there was a tobacco taste mixed with the chocolate and spice. I’m impressed so far!

Flavor

Overall, the flavor stayed extremely consistent with this Gurkha Ghost. Chocolate, spice and tobacco were present throughout the entire cigar with a nice kick on the retrohale. You definitely start to feel this cigar around the halfway point.

The ash was tight and even and the burn was near perfect, down to the nub. There’s definitely a medium-full on flavor and taste.

Gurkha Ghost – Final Third

Around the halfway point of the cigar as the strength says ‘hello,’ I could also taste the sweetness in my mouth coming off of the dark wrapper. This really fit together well with the flavors already present.

Also at the halfway point, there’s still an enormous amount of smoke, which I love. A lot of people don’t but I like paying attention and smelling the actual smoke to help determine the overall makeup of the cigar. I’m sure that’ll come back to haunt (see what I did again??) me when I’m in my 60s, no doubt.

When the ash finally dropped just before the second third was over, it was like hitting a hanging beehive with a stick and awakening the swarm; LOTS of smoke in the air now.

Gurkha Ghost – Nub

Just before I put down this Gurkha Ghost, my last few puffs I could hear the wrapper crackle as I drew in the smoke. I love that sound!

Is It An Every Day Smoke?

I could see myself smoking this Gurkha Ghost everyday. It was very good and the flavor was extremely consistent, as was the burn. For some, however, it may be a little too heavy as the strength of the tobacco showed up halfway through and remained.

Would I Buy A Box?

Yes, this is a box worthy cigar.

Conclusion

Gurkha Ghost

I really enjoyed this cigar. The flavor was strong and consistent and the burn again, near perfect. You probably don’t want to smoke this one on an empty stomach or even early in the day. I’d wait until your body and senses are awake. The Gurkha Ghost is a great cigar to have after dinner, perhaps with some wine, coffee or another after dinner drink. To give a shout out, I was joined tonight with my favorite smoking buddy, Tex, my German Shepard.

Tex

The only other thing I can say is: ‘this Ghost has been busted!’

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You forgot cinnamon notes.i smoke the ghost daily and its chocolate and cinnamon taste is robust.only thing this strong is acid cigars NASTY. cuban crafters has an estilo.lancero maduro thats heaven as well try it at $5 its spicy like the ghost but a bit more mellow.the nasty by acid has a very easy draw w tons of smoke great w espresso.

http://www.stogiesontherocks.com/ Eric Scism

Thanks Michael! I don’t think necessarily picked out cinnamon when smoked it, but I could be wrong. I’m sure the more often you smoke these Gurkha Ghosts you’ll be able to pull out more and more flavors!

John Paul

The binder is Criollo 98, a seed hybrid variety made to be resistant to blue mold. It is not, as stated in your review, criollo grown in 1998.